We sit down with Mike Treanor, a PhD candidate at USCD, game designer, and scholar about his many projects. First we talk about his upcoming game Prom Week, a puzzle game based on social interaction, and just how it’s going to work. Next we talk about The Cartoonist, a game development platform that he’s working on with Another Castle guest Simon Ferrari and Ian Bogost. Finally, we talk about his passion for Wing Chun and the idea practice in games and other activities.

Writer and game designer C.J. Kershner talks about his experiences at Kaos Studios as lead writer on Homefront and and senior QA tester on Frontlines: Fuel of War. We also discuss the process of writing for in AAA game development, the role of fiction in games, and bid a belated farewell to Ariyoshi, the restaurant at which most of the previous episodes of Another Castle have been recorded.

Writer and game designer, Sande Chen, sits down to talk with us about how she got her start in the game industry. We also talk about the different roles she’s had on games from The Witcher to more casual fare, including the switch between designer and writer. Finally, Chen goes over her role in forming the game scene in New York City, and what it takes to survive there.

Matthew Weise, lead game designer at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab, talks about his work in game research and his formative experiences developing mobile games and studying film. We also discuss the importance of scope and the relationship between creativity and analysis.

The chairman of the Independent Games Festival and former editor of Offworld, Brandon Boyer sits down to talk with us about his long, off and on relationship with games, his stint as an indie music publisher, as well as how he got his job. He also shares his thoughts about the independent game scene, and as well as his hopes for the future of the IGF. We also get him to hint at some upcoming side projects that might have him reviving an old skillset!

A producer on both GTA III and GTA III: Vice City, Jeremy Pope sits down and talks about his career in the game industry. Currently a producer working at Curious Pictures, he covers how he got his start, why he decided to become a producer, and what did in the years between working at Rockstar and his current job. We also discuss CounterStrike, and what it’s like running a gaming clan, as well as the feeling of falling in love with a game.

Former Idle Thumbs personality and current designer at Irrational Studios, Steve Gaynor drops by to talk about how he got his start in the game industry. He also talks about being director of the DLC for Bioshock 2, Minerva’s Den, and what draws him to narrative heavy and atmospheric games. We also discuss the tension between narrative and player agency, as well as what drives him as a designer.

Andy Nealen, co-creator of the award winning indie game, Osmos, sits down with us this week. We talk about his long journey to game development through architecture and computer science. Andy also tells the story behind Osmos, and gives a very brief hint at what might become a future project. We also talk about physics, control, Chess and Street Fighter IV.

Welcome to season two of Another Castle! After a long hiatus we’re back and will be releasing episodes every two or three weeks.

For our first episode we have an interview with Simon Ferrari, a PhD student at Georgia Tech and co-author of the book Newsgames. He is also one of the more interesting and prolific members of the upcoming generation of game academics. In this episode Ferrari talks about how he decided to become an academic and the topic of his most recent work, newsgames. We also talk about the importance of skill, and the beauty of Halo.

So as regular listeners might have noticed, Noah and I have been taking off more than a couple months between the first and second seasons. However, that’s about to change! Here is our second Bonus Episode, which we have courtesy of the Rules of the Game blog.

This second Bonus Episode features interviews by Ryan Theodores from the premiere party of the No Quarter Exhibition at the NYU Game Center. No Quarter is a gallery show for which the Game Center commissions three games from independent designers and puts them up for a couple of months for the public play. Ryan interviews all the creators, which included Mark Essen, Matt Parker, Robin Arnott, and Nathalie Pozzi and Eric Zimmerman (as well as yours truly). Just as good as the interviews is the music that Ryan chose to accompany each of the interviews. The podcast is introduced by our producer Noah Sasso and the Editor of Rules of the Game, Simon Ferrari.

After this we’re going to start putting up new episodes every two or three weeks. Thanks again to everyone for being so patient!